Various Artists - Time for a Change

Various Artists - Time for a Change
Guy Gerber's certainly one for collaborating, but for the 25th release on his Supplement Facts label he obviously thought it was appropriate to have the party in a studio, inviting along a bunch of artists from four continents who, with No Regular Play's Greg Paulus aside, have all collaborated with one another in some manner and all released on the label before. Rather than pick apart who might be bringing what to the table, it's probably best just to say that generally a lot of importance is placed on melodic feel by these artists individually, which has inevitably led to a whole lot of warmth and lushness.

With the lovely, sparkley-starlight "The Man from Atlantis" aside, the frequencies are packed to bursting with elements, from white noise and pads, stuttering horn samples, ethereal vocals, the list goes on. Structurally, they meander. "Time for a Change" starts with a plod and then gathers momentum midway as a rolling bass takes hold. "The Fire Within" is velvety and dreamlike. All of this wouldn't be much good, though, if the harmonies weren't so darn nice. Yes, it's an inoffensive word, but here such inoffensiveness works pretty well. You won't find overtly joyful, blissed out moments, because this would detract from the opiate warmth. You go under for the length, and then come out without a strong impression, feeling comforted without quite remembering why.